How to Brew Beer:
Home Brewing and How to
Make Beer... A Beginner's Guide to Home Brew

Discover
home brewing and how to
brew beer! It's a lot
of fun and you'll never drink mass-produced beer again.
Moreover, in most states you are permitted to brew (tax-free) up to 100 gallons
of beer at home per year per person, or 200 gallons per household if
there are two adults. But of course, who's counting? As of May 9, 2013
home brew is now legal in the state of Alabama, the
49th state to permit it. And, on July 1, 2013
Mississippi became the 50th state to legalize home brew.

We have President
Jimmy Carter to thank for lifting the restrictions in 1978
on home brew and brewing beer at home.
Previously (back to the end of prohibition), one had to pay
a $1,000 penal bond in order to be able to
brew beer at home.
That had limited virtually all but the very serious
from being able to enjoy the hobby of beer brewing.
Today, however, about 1 million Americans drink their own
home brew. Go here to learn more about the basics of How to Home Brew.

Mad
River Brewing Company of Blue Lake, CA has
achieved what many home brewers dream of
doing - starting their own micro-brewery.
One of the coolest things in the business is
the bottling line. When you move from
brewing 5 gallons of home brew to producing
thousands of gallons, you're clearly going
to need some technological assistance.
And, that's where the bottling line comes
in.
Check out Mad River's bottling department in
action in this video.

How to
Brew Your Own Beer

The
beer brewing process is fairly basic. In fact,
there are just a few steps involved in turning amber waves
of grain into a tasty alcoholic beverage! So, don't
let a lack of current knowledge keep you from brewing your
own beer.
Learn to homebrew!

Homebrew Tech: Product Reviews

Beer
Brewing Kit
If you have ever witnessed a basic home
brewing set-up, you have likely seen the
humble Ale Pale beer brewing kit. This 6-gallon bucket
comes complete with all the basic
necessities for brewing beer.

It doesn't matter how well you
brew, or how expensive your beer brewing equipment
is. What matters is drinking the liquid of the
Gods. And, no where do they drink it more than
in Munich, Germany during the annual Oktoberfest.
Some consider it the Mecca of beer... and they're
probably right. Regardless, anyone who loves
beer should make a pilgrimage to Munich during the
end of September some time in their life...
more

Saying
"No" to Flies in Beer
The hinged lid on beer steins was
originally an elaborate method for keeping diseased
flies out of the drink during the Plague era!

Little
Jimmy is Unusually Happy
Until about 150 years ago, every
American home had a beer brewer - usually the
mother. Why? Low alcoholic beer was preferred over
untreated water since harmful bacteria wasn't
present in beer... the kids loved it!

Jumping
for Hops
The hops plant is related to
cannabis (sorry, no THC here!) and can grow as high as 25
feet!

Cheers!
Why?
Tapping beer glasses with your fellow drinkers and
proclaiming "Cheers!" or "Prost!" or whatever the
going term is in your country evolved from royalty
and nobles "sloshing", or mixing a bit of their beer
with the one who served it. This reduced the
possibility of poisoned brew, as the King was always
second to drink!

Styles of Beer
Many have said the taste of beer must be "acquired".
That may be true. Although factors such as the brewing
process and various spices, fruits, etc. play a role, the
taste of beer chiefly comes from the malt and water
used, esters (or lack of) from the yeast, and the hops.
And, it's the hops that people are inherently tasting when
we say beer is an acquired taste...
more

Do you still drink your
beer out of the bottle? Yes?
Well, shame on you! If you really want
to enjoy a real beer you must drink from the
glass. And, not just any beer glass.
It should be the correct one for the style
of beer you are drinking.

For example,
a fine Belgium Triple must be drank from a
goblet or sniffer so as to permit you the
ability of taking in all the aromas. A
pilsner should be drank from a pint glass.
Kolsch beers are typically enjoyed from a "stange",
a straight, cylindrical glass that holds no
more than 8 or 10 ounces...
more

Our
Favorite Commercial Beers

Chimay Trappistes
Any of the Belgian Monk beers brewed within the
walls of the Trappist Monastery and controlled by
the International Trappist Association. World
renowned beers that are considered by us among the
finest brews.

RJ Rockers
Great beer, brewed in a fashion familiar to any of
us who have served with the Army/Air Force in
Germany during the Cold War. Love the new Pint
Glass they sent me recently. Ummmmmm!

Brand
While stationed in The Netherlands, this was the
more popular beer, after Heineken. In our
opinion, it is a far better brew than the big "H"
beer! Unfortunately, Brand beer is not
available in the United States.

Brewing
Beer at Home is Fun and Rewarding!

Why We Home Brew

Like many Americans, I'm guessing you're
tired of drinking sub-quality beer, and are ready to do
something about it! Perhaps you
traveled the world - and in particular, Europe - during your
military days and discovered quality beer. Now that
you are back in the good ole USA, it's difficult to find
certain beers you enjoyed outside of the States.
Perhaps you live in Australia and want to discover German
beers.

Or
maybe you're just a typical person who knows someone who
knows someone who brews beer at home. You probably have
wondered what you have been missing. What with all the
people who are brewing beer at home these days, you feel
it's time you gave it a go.

If patience is your
quality,
and you have a desire for 100% pure and natural beer, as well as a
couple hundred dollars to really get started, then you're
at the right place!

In the spring of 2013, we started our first hops
micro-farm. Well, it really isn't a "farm" per sey.
But, it's 24 plants from 10 different varieties of hops.
We are jumping into the hops growing arena because we have a
desire to further our knowledge of brewing beer. And,
as you know, hops are a main ingredient in beer.
Follow along as we learn how to
grow
hops for our home brew.

The equipment needed to brew a basic batch of beer at home is actually
quite minimal. As mentioned above, you'll need a 4 or
5-gallon brew kettle, or pot to
cook the brew. You'll need a fermenting bucket or
glass carboy. And, you'll need an air-lock, or device
used to allow the CO2 to escape during fermentation while
keeping bad stuff (bacteria) out. Other than that, only a few
minor and inexpensive tools are required. Fortunately,
nowadays you can walk into your
local brew shop and purchase
a beer brew kit (usually the
6-gallon bucket type) for about 100 - 150 dollars. It
will contain everything you need to brew your first batch of
beer, including the ingredients for your favorite
German
Oktoberfest,
Belgium Trippel, etc. Learn more about
all the varying
home brew
equipment and beer brew supplies.

So, I just cook some items in a brew pot on the stove and
toss that into a fermentation bucket, right? Well,
that's the crude jest of it. But, the brewing process
is an elaborate task... mostly technical and partially artistic.
Learn about the
home brewing
process here.

The method virtually everyone new to the hobby uses in
brewing the initial batches of beer typically involves
brewing from kits. From
Belgian Trippels to
German Kolsch,
Wheat Beer to
Dark Beer or Light Beer... we here at Two Monks Brewing are brewing all of them. As we
do, we'll post those recipes on this web site, at the top
left of all pages. You can, of course find plenty of
beer recipes at your local
brewing supplies
store, and online.

Taking the Next Step: Crafting the Perfect Home Brew

Once you get good at brewing your own beer, you'll likely
want to experiment. That's what we plan to do.
Two-row or six-row malt? Rye? What spices can I add to my brew?
What temperature ranges can I try? This yeast or that? Fruit? And,
what's all this noise about "mashing" and
"all-grain" brewing?
Clearly, brewing beer at home can quickly become science.
In that we started brewing in January 2012, we have since brewed at least a
few dozen extract/partial mash "kits" and we
are ready to immerse ourselves into being more creative with this.
After all, it's just a hobby at the present time!

When you feel comfortable, jump into experimenting with
your own judgment. You'll likely create a family label
one day! Our first attempt at swaying from a basic
recipe kit was our
Pablo's
Kolsch, a Mexican style of Germany's popular
Kolsch
beer.